


The Star (-17)

by Kaggath



Series: Playing Against the Dealer [4]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 06:57:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17913995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaggath/pseuds/Kaggath





	The Star (-17)

“So…what is a ryshcate anyway?” Kati’po asked.

“Mm?” Andronikos’s tattoo quirked with his eyebrow.

“On Dromund Kaas, you called me a ryshcate. What is that?”

“Must’ve been hearing things, Sith,” Andronikos said, busying himself with the sleeping controls of the drifting Fury. “Don’t know why I’d call you that.”

“But what is it?” Kati’po poked him in the shoulder. They were both restless, trying to enjoy some down time between botching an ancient ritual that trapped her murderous former master inside Khem Val and drawing the anger of a dusty Darth that decided Kati’po needed to be “purged from the Sith.”

So much for lying low.

Rather than addressing the bantha in the room that was, well, Kati’po’s life, they wanted to pretend things were normal. At least for a little while. So she and Andronikos had gone daring the Fury through the first asteroid field they could find, busying their minds with something a little more straightforward for once. She was starting to get a taste for adventure, sure, but Thanaton and Zash and their Sith games weren’t to her liking. Other Sith seemed to live for the scuttling power grabs.

“Wait…you really don’t know? Oh, Kat we gotta make a side trip.”

 

Visiting Corellia after all this time felt like stepping into a parallel universe. Everything was slightly…off. The world changed without him. The old Corellia was dead, existing only in his memory. Lots of Corellians talked about that feeling. Maybe it was something in the water. Maybe they all wanted a second chance at that life, to have a better one. But those times and places are gone, and the kids they were grew up.

Maybe all those old spacers were stuck in the past. Andronikos idly ran a thumb over Kati’po’s knuckles. If nothing else, a little insight from the past would help him find this damned place. Even if it had a new name, new management, if it was in business it had what he was looking for…there.

“Okay, we’re here,” Kati’po said as he pulled in to the familiar old dump. “Now will you explain?”

“You’re gonna ruin your own surprise, Kat,” he teased before kissing her forehead.

“I’ve had enough surprises for a lifetime,” she said flatly.

“Well this is a good one, I promise.”

The door still caught in the same place, all the tables and chairs and booths were the same. Andronikos didn’t recognize any of the people, but just as well. This wasn’t about them. It was about her. His old booth was even open. Everything was lining up just right. 

“It’s a…bar?”

“Not exactly. Besides, if it were I’d expect to get zap—hey!” he protested as she jabbed him in the side.  
Andronikos cozied in to the booth and Kati’po sat across from him, looking around to take in the atmosphere. Couples, friends, parents…young, old, every species you could think of. Everyone was happy, like all the bad in the galaxy couldn’t slip through the cracks into this little hole in the wall. Andronikos felt his throat tightening at the memories of this place.

“Two?” the server’s voice snapped him out of it.

“Yeah, and two bottles for the road.”

“Bottles?” Kati’po pried, looking like she was about to burst with anticipation.

“Alright, we’re big kids so we get to take the good stuff home. But for your first time you have to eat it here.”

“Eat…it?” 

“Some places, cantinas or whatever,” Andronikos continued, “They say they have ryshcate, but that’s what you eat when you’re missing the real thing, and you can’t miss the real thing if you’ve never had it.”

The server brought them their plates. No matter how much Corellia changed around it, ryshcate stayed the same. There’d probably be riots in the streets if it didn’t. 

Kati’po stared at it for a moment.

“Cake?”

“It’s not just any cake. Try it, you’ll like it.”

For once Andronikos wasn’t digging in the second the plate hit the table. He never really had the opportunity to have someone try it for the first time. She took her first tentative bite.

“Mmf…”

“Right?”

She took another bite and her expression bordered on obscene. 

“This is literally the best thing I’ve ever had.”

“It’s kind of a tradition for special occasions, celebrations, important stuff,” Andronikos realized he still hadn’t eaten any. He’d been so transfixed on her. The first bite was always the best.

“What are we celebrating?” Kati’po asked slyly. Andronikos almost choked on his ryshcate. Very smooth. Kat smiled at him as slow and thick and sweet as the bourbon sauce.

“I’m sure we can think of something,” Andronikos said. He could feel himself grinning like an idiot. There were a lot of things he could be celebrating, but he wasn’t ready to say it out loud…not yet. And he didn’t want the uncertainty that came with it to spoil the night.

A comfortable hush settled over them. It felt like they’d been tucked away from the universe. A funny change of pace maybe, but she needed it. They needed it. The warm glow cast around her like a halo and Andronikos felt the gravity of her beauty pulling his gaze back to her. 

Stars, he’d throw himself out the airlock if he’d said that out loud.

He couldn’t help it. He was caught in her orbit. A star shining light into his life he thought he’d never see, thought he’d turned his back on for good. Worse, the way she savored her ryshcate, the faces she made, the way she licked the spoon…it put a thicker haze in his mind than the whiskey would.

There was something about her. Something…more. Andronikos couldn’t understand, but he supposed he didn’t have to.

 

 

Back aboard the Fury, half a bottle of whiskey heavier and a hell of a lot of good sense lighter, he didn’t know where they would go, but he knew what he wanted to do. The memory of how he’d got here was fuzzy, blurred around the edges. Less the journey, more of what she’d said, he’d said. What he’d felt, and the taste of comfort.

He would thank his lucky stars he’d got here, but he only had one, and his hand rested on her waist. Cheek nestled on the crown of her head, he felt her sigh into him. One of her lekku draped over his shoulder, and Andronikos was almost afraid to open his eyes, like maybe it was all just a dream. Instead, he felt the warmth of her, the light that shone in a dark universe.


End file.
